Thursday, October 25, 2012

Vegan brownie bites with avocado and coconut flour

Some times, I make recipes with a great deal of anticipation and planning.

Other times, I make things almost without thought, combining ingredients on whim and being guided by spur of the moment decisions.

Recently, faced with avocado to use up and a vague desire for chocolate, I set out to make chocolate avocado mousse. Half way through I veered off and added dates and coconut flour. At some point before finishing, I decided that I was making brownies and not mousse.

This could have ended badly. Instead, it resulted in one of my favourite chocolate recipes. Ever.

These have just 5 ingredients. They take 5 minutes to prepare. There aren't baked, and the refrigeration time is minimal. And they taste like brownies. Genuinely, unbelievably, incredibly like brownies.

I would describe the texture as a cross between raw brownies and regular cooked brownies - dense, and fudgey, and slightly chewy. I liked it a lot. I liked everything about these a lot.

You don't have to take my word for it though. You could whip these up right now and sit down to try them in just one short hour.

Vegan brownie bites

Made with avocado and coconut flour, these are everything a brownie should be

1 - 2 tbsp maple syrup (I used 1 tbsp and found that sweet enough; use more to taste)

Method

Process the avocado in a food processor until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well combined and starting to clump together.

Press the brownie mixture into a loaf tin or other container lined with baking paper. Set in the fridge for approximately one hour before cutting into squares and serving. Lick the food processor bowl while waiting.

I think I'll be needing more avocados before long.

What was your last unplanned but worthwhile kitchen creation? I have quite a lot of unplanned creations, but they aren't always full successes!Submitted to Ricki's Wellness Weekend.

They sound really interesting! I still haven't used avocado in sweets but have been meaning to.

The things I throw together without much planning usually work out better than the recipes I've been stewing over for ages! I need to get into the habit of writing the spur of the moment ones down and taking photos.

It's odd the way that planning can backfire sometimes. Definitely give avocados a go at some point because they do wonders, and if you don't have a big sweet tooth, they also might give flavours that you quite like (I find them to help offset the sugar / sweeteners of dishes) :)

I bought 4 organic avocados today and when I cut them open they were all bad. I was going to experiment with them - not as adventurously as you, but still, I was going to dabble. Such a shame. I'll buy some more and try your brownies - they look and sound amazing xx

This is so close to the pumpkin-cacao-mesquite-coconut-flour pudding I've been making here in Toronto, so thick I can stand my spoon up in it! Or, well, maybe quite different, but I think we'd both like each other's creations equally ;)

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